Amongst Us
by Stove.top.jo
Summary: A story that begins with the Devil sick of his blemished reputation on Earth and how humans perceive him. He decided to visit Earth in hopes to rebuild his reputation. Spreading the message that the Devil is only evil to the sinners who require punishment. Through this journey he experiences new things and finds love and is in for a major change of events.
1. Chapter 1

Reser 1

Joseph Reser

ENGL 211

11 October 2019

Krygsman

_Amongst Us: Introduction_

Our story begins August 19th, 2019 and my son is conversing with his head demoness who helps him run Hell. He is upset, not with the punishment I gave him, but what followed. I needed my strongest and smartest to take care of the hardest job I had to offer. Unfortunately in the past he began to rebel against me. I did not want to force him to run Hell for all eternity, I needed him to find a way for it to be controlled, but as I said before, I had no other choice. There would not have been need for a Hell in the first place if it wasn't for his irresponsible actions. Here is the how the start of a new beginning all occurred. With my son, Samael, or as the humans know him as, Satan. This was all part of my plan, I just needed the pieces to all fall into place. So we start in Hell.

I am sick and tired of running Hell. Doing everything my father wanted me to do and in the process making me look like the bad guy. Everyone on Earth fears me, they blame their problems on me because of a minor slip up that occurs in their life. Or they claim that it is the Devils work when evil is wreaking havoc in their streets, schools, and lives. As if I have the time to make their lives miserable while I punish the evil beings that show up to the gates. I am here to purge evil! Not produce more of it. They do not understand Lilith! Samael, why does the opinion of the mortals on Earth matter to you so much. You are the devil for Saint Peter's sake! It is my reputation we are talking about Lilith. They need to know that the only way I will conduct anything evil is only here in Hell, not on their polluted planet. It is supposed to make them fear to the point where they do not conduct any sins. Their punishment is only as evil as the sins they commit but the difference is that it feels like an eternity. I am sick and tired of looking like the bad guy, I need to find a way to change the persona that has been given to me on Earth. What shall I do Lilith? Well Sammy I would say to go and strike fear into their souls but that would not be the way to go about this. Lilith, you're a genius! That's what I will do! I must go to Earth and rebuild my reputation, the humans will believe anything. Even other humans. I mean how hard could it be. Hitler was able to manipulate millions of people to follow him, and I was capable of getting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit first. Sam you cannot be seen roaming around Earth, you're the devil remember. If people are terrified of you when they have never seen you how do you think they will react when you are trying to have a conversation with them. Don't be silly now Lilith think with your brain. I will not show up on Earth in my true form. No no no, I will put on the skin of a human. I would need to look suitable, almost to the point where they see me as perfect. A person that looks dashing and lavish. I need to have charisma and- Sam! It is not a good idea to walk on Earth. What happens if your father sees? What if you are never able to come back? What if you become mortal? Lilith it will all have been worth it if I can help the mortals understand that I am only evil to those who deserve punishment. So they stop fearing me and start fearing sin. Maybe father will listen to me if I am capable of eliminating sin before it happens. In the process of doing this I can kill three birds with one stone. The first bird is my horrid reputation, the second bird is the reduction of sin on Earth so it makes our job here in Hell a lot easier, and the third bird is to open my father's eyes to show him what I can and will accomplish, so I can be accepted again and I can get out of this evil place.

Lilith, I've made up my mind, I'm leaving tonight. I need you to watch the gates and keep the souls from leaving. Sam where will you go the planet is big. I will go where every human goes to build a new reputation. The city of angels. I still do not think this is a wise decision Sam. Besides how will we protect the gates? Protect the gates from what?! Nobody wants to be in Hell Lilith. Not even the devil himself. I've been in here for centuries and I'm sick of it. Yes being the dark lord is great and all but it's always the same thing every day. You greet at the gates, you take them to their cell where they will live their own personal Hell for all eternity, until they are free of guilt and evil. We have not had anyone escape since the beginning, no one is capable of releasing any damned souls except for myself. You will be fine to run Hell with your children Lilith. I am sure of it. I will make frequent visits and I can take you up there as well to see what it is like. But until then you need to train your oldest child to take over when you are on Earth with me. Okay, that will do. Remember to be careful. There is no Hell without the Devil only chaos. But before you leave, take this pendant and chain. I took it from one of the broken souls that arrived earlier. What does this say Lilith? Le Diable emporte L'Amour. Wait you said broken souls? Walked in with this? Yes sir, they are doing everything they can to tortue him but nothing seems to be affecting him. He is not resisting either, he's just there, standing there. Lilith while I am away I will need you to keep him in Treachery. You want him in the ninth circle Sam?! Yes, the last one to feel and do nothing here was me. Keep a close eye on him and if you need me, pray to me. I will see you in a week to let you know how everything goes and to check on you. Good bye.


	2. Chapter 2

Reser 1

Joseph Reser

ENGL 211

25 October 2019

Krygsman

_Amongst Us: Arrival_

It is currently sunrise. I can hear the crashing waves against the shore, and I can feel the breeze from the Pacific on my skin. Along with the mist of the sea. As I opened my eyes I was blinded, as if a bat was placed in broad daylight. The temperature felt as if it was negative thirty degrees. Then again in Hell it is normally a comfortable two hundred and twenty six degrees. On cold days maybe one hundred and ninety five. I am sure the fact I landed here on the beach clothless does not help either, it's not like the necklace Lilith gave me will keep me warm. It is odd, I can hear yelling all around me. But it was a single voice, a male. I cannot make out exactly what it is he is saying. He sounds very stern and upset. But I can hear him walking closer to me as his voice becomes louder. I'm not sure whether or not to consider this man a threat, so I decided to get up. As I found my way to my feet I still could not see, I was still adjusting to the environment. What happened next I was not prepared for, because once I found myself on my two feet I heard the voice, clear as day say "Get down!" At this point I was confused and felt two sharp objects pierce their way into my back, then the feeling of electricity surging through my body. Before I could do anything it was too late. I had fallen back into the sand while still being blinded. Then I felt my hands being pulled behind my back and cuffs being placed on my wrists. What else could I do besides sleep it off.

As everything turned black again I could feel myself shifting back into Hell. An unexpected and early arrival. How could this be? This was not by choice, but I could feel a presence grabbing each and every single one of my limbs as they pull me through the gates of Hell. And as I fell again I hit the first circle of Hell, Limbo, I fell hard and fast too, and cracked the ground around me. The damned souls all looked in awe. I have not visited Limbo in centuries because I've had no reason to. They are the quietest souls. Only lost and confused as to where they are. As I stood up the floor around me turned into a mirror. And the heads of the souls became something like black holes consuming the matter around them. I looked into the mirror and I was still in my human form. No wings, no horns, no red skin, no clothes. I appeared to be malnourished and as they surround me they moved their heads closer and closer until there was nothing but darkness, everything was black except for myself. I felt the gravity lift and I came off the ground I could not see, only being suspended in the air. Gravity comes back and I fall hard and fast into the darkness.

As soon as I found the floor it shattered and I fell into the second circle. Right into the center of Lusts tornado, I was thrown out immediately to the floor. The winds in lust are so harsh and fast they consist of the souls. Some that tread carefully are able to stay on the ground but are still blown by the winds. As I lay flat on the floor I am still barely able to maneuver. Until a soul in the wind grabs me and throws me through a wall that lead to Gluttony, the third circle. When I impacted the wall in Lust it was concrete and rock. As I fell it turned into water and froze before I had hit the ground.

The water had surrounded my leg and when I had fallen my leg shattered into hundreds of pieces. An icicle had pierced through my chest, and on the end, my heart was there dripping blood, with the initial "M" branded into it. What could the "M" mean? Why am I experiencing this, I should have just teleported back to my throne in my normal state. Not this skin sack of blood, flesh and bone. I had never bled until then, before the vital fluid could even touch the ground it would freeze. The clouds began to roll over me. It started pouring down rain, and just like the blood before they made contact with the ground they would turn into small icicles. The bigger pieces of ice would stab me like small daggers, the others would cause small cuts and melt immediately. I am trapped in the third circle. Legless and heartless. I knew I would be trapped here for all eternity if I did not do something fast. Then I remembered my three headed Hellhound, Cerberus, was placed here. I had trained him to know different whistles of mine in times of distress and help. As I summon him he rushes towards me. Confused about how I am presented, weak and vulnerable. Although this does not stop him. By the time he reaches me I am basically floating in a frozen pond of my own blood, in agony. He crawls under my arm and at this point it was too much weight. We fall through the pond into the fourth circle, Greed.

My leg is back and there is no longer a hole in my chest. But at my feet there are weights. Cerberus is awaiting me at the exit, though the weights are too much for me to move. As I would move up an inch the door would move back twenty feet. I then whistled to Cerberus and told him he must find and bring me Lilith. Cerberus then ran through the door and as he crossed through it the door rushed to me and broke the weights. I am only half way through this and it has felt like an eternity. As I pray to the demons that overwatch Hell and to Lilith a soul had been shoved into me by another. I was enraged. I could feel my true self trying to burn through this pathetic and weak human skin. Luckily when I felt Hells fire surge through my body I regained my divine strength and grabbed hold of the damned soul that ran into me. As he struggled I felt the soul that pushed him on my back. The other souls in the circle were fighting as well but I was only angered with the two that would disrespect the Devil himself in this way. I whistled to Cerberus again to attack the soul on my back. He came running with his velocious speed and ran straight through the soul on my back and the soul was nothing but blood on the surface of my back and Cerberus' fur. As the other soul continued to struggle I grabbed her by the top of her skull. Using her eye sockets as finger holes, I then grabbed her by her jaw and ripped the soul in two. A murder of a soul at the hands of the Devil.

The anger and Hell fire that surged through me was then gone. Cerberus was gone, and so were the other fighting souls. I arrived at the sixth circle, Heresy. It is solid black, I am trapped in a small box. And it is a lot hotter here than it is at my throne for some reason. A fire started at my feet and at my head. To escape I tore apart the inferno casket. But was in solid black again and I was not trapped I could walk but there was nothing to be seen or to walk to. I felt my feet get warm, realizing my inferno casket was placed in the middle of the circle of the murderers, suicide victims, blasphemers and sodomites.

The seventh circle. Violence. The burning started at my feet, then my knees, waist, and chest. Until I was completely submerged in the boiling blood of the damned. My skin started to blister then deteriorate. I could not tell if it more cold then hot, but once my nerve endings were completely scorched. As I pass through the boiling bodily fluid I found the end and fell through the bloody trees of the suicide victims. There wasn't a single space there was a soul wasn't hanging. Every tree, branch, and noose had a victim. But off in the distance there was a tree on fire. As I approached it there appeared to be a door knob attached to it. Along with the scratches of demons claws among the surface of the bark. Continuing through the tree door with barely any skin left on my body I step onto the scalding hot sand with my bare feet. Some souls are still half alive as they burn for eternity; their faces turning to glass as they constantly bleed and blister. Anything that is above the surface of the sand is also being melted away by the inferno rain.

I am sick of this voyage, I must return to my throne immediately. As I put my hands together and cry out to Lilith everything again turns black and I hear her voice behind me. She is speaking in tongues. Nothing makes sense anymore, I turned around and there is someone on my throne with wings, and horns. It is not I; Everything felt as if I am just a damned soul. Chained by my arms, legs, and neck I am trapped, and slowly begin to get torn apart as I see an imposter on my throne. Lilith speaks to me, saying "You were never a good devil." She comes closer to me with a dark blade and begins to slit my veins. She puts the blade into my sternum and breaks my rib cage. As she reaches in and takes my beating heart she says "What kind of devil has a heart?" and throws it to this "new" devil. He catches it on a spear made of bones and eats it as if it's a kabob. Lilith then said "The only love the devil knows is the love he takes from everyone. The heart, the passion, the emotion he lost it all. So he will take it from everyone. That's how it should be." She grabs me and throws me up through every single circle again.

A loud annoying noise rang in my ear. A voice a weakling screaming "let me out" over and over again. As I wake up from that nightmare on a silver bench attached to the wall. And attached to the bench was myself in a pair of handcuffs. Everything is still a little blinding but I could actually make out everything. As I sit in a jail cell on Earth the dream made me wonder what is going on in Hell and why that individual is there.


	3. Chapter 3

Reser 1

Joseph Reser

November 20th, 2019

Krygsman

Amongst Us: Six Days Out

Everything started to become more clear; my vision was back and my sense of hearing returned as well. I look at the clothes that were placed on my body, I had no shoes, jeans that fit up to my calfs, and a tight pink jacket that read "Barbie" across my chest that exposed half of my torso. An officer then walks up to the cell door and he said "Okay Ken, your 24 hours are up, you're free to go." Who is this Ken he speaks of? Perhaps it is this ape of a man who keeps screaming to let him out. As I look he walks up to me and undoes the handcuffs from my wrist and says "Alright follow me, right this way." I was still confused as to who this Ken was but I decided not to say anything. Walking through the cinder block hallway where the walls were painted white with a blue line in the center and the words "To protect and to serve" written in cursive. I looked at the back of this officers collar and I could see his necklace with a picture St. Michael sticking out from the shirt. After the minor event that occurred I had almost forgot my reason for my arrival upon Earth. Just before we reached the exit, I stopped and said "Excuse me officer what is your name?" he said "I am sergeant Jones." I then proceeded to converse with him about his religious views and said "I noticed you had a necklace with St. Michael around your neck, I am under the assumption that you are a believer in the divine beings?" He said "Your assumptions are correct, St. Michael gives us officers protection when we put our lives on the line everyday." "Ah, I see sergeant Jones. Now let me ask you this; What is your personal view on the Devil? Your experience if you will." After asking him this I could see his tone shifted. This man was confident, brave and carried himself with professionalism. But once I asked him this he appeared to have a mix of emotions on his face. Anger, hate, along with sadness and heartbreak. He looked down and back up at me and began to speak, "I do not understand how he works. But what I do understand is that God is omnipotent. So he obviously had a reasoning for creating Lucifer, he knew what would come from him and for some reason still allowed him to exist. I trust in God and I believe that good cannot exist without the bad. What I do not understand is why God lets his fallen son destroy families and lives and allows him to wreak havoc here on Earth." For what he said I was almost breath taken until the end. I told him "Sergeant Jones, you are a smart man. A lot smarter than the majority of people I have encountered from this planet. But the devil does not control the sin people carry out on these streets you keep safe. What the devil does is purge the sin in Hell and that is all he does; He is not a puppet master controlling anyone except for the damned souls in Hell. Always remember that." I look at his face and into his eyes and I could tell I helped him realize something, and as his tone shifted again he looked me up and down and said, "That's a great perspective, but I don't take guidance advice from people who are black out drunk on the beach naked and are now wearing a little girls jacket. Have a good day sir. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Well that was a peculiar situation, these humans are rather stubborn and get butt hurt over whatever truth it is you tell them. I may need a different approach, but first I should probably find some clothes that fit me. I have never been to Los Angeles, California so I was not quite sure on what to expect or where everything is. But one of the perks to being the devil and tormenting damned souls that were living on Earth is the fact that I am capable of accessing memories at any time I want. My father had gifted me with this capability in order to reach into someones past and present it to them in Hell as a form of torture, this becomes especially useful when someones sin has a lot of guilt behind it. Now unfortunately sometimes the human brain can remember things that may not have even happened. It is just a matter of finding the more current information so I am up to date with the environment. Luckily for me L.A. has a lot of people trying to make their dreams come true. Which essentially translates to people chasing their desires and doing whatever they can to get there; Sinners, sinners everywhere. Because I am not in Hell it is a lot harder to have access to the memories. Meaning I'm going to have to take my time, meditate, and pray in order to have access to the memories I require, but first I must find a location to execute in private. As I walk to find a private location I look around and see the pollution done by the humans. It is disappointing to see what this Earth has come to, it was once a beautiful, green, untouched world by human kind. Of course good ol' dad would want to put such a parasitic creature on one of the most beautiful planets in the universe. In my opinion he should have let all the dogs live on Earth while the humans were placed on Venus and would die due to lack of oxygen and acidic rain. Wait maybe that is a way I can reach to people in order to see the devil isn't all that bad. I can help clean their environment and host environmental community service events while also refurbishing my reputation.

As I finished my thoughts of what I can do about my reputation I came across an alley between a shopping plaza and apartment complex's. I take a right into the alley from the sidewalk. There was no one out and it was about 5 O'clock in the afternoon. As I pass through the alley I look around to see if there are any people and I do a couple of sweep throughs just to be sure. Then I came across a cut out in the architecture of the apartments that was pushed further back so you could not see me from the sidewalk if you were looking into the alley. I picked up the trash that was in the cut out and placed down a few pieces of cardboard to start the ritual. I sat down and it was completely silent, there was nobody around, everything was perfect. I then place my hands together and started the prayer. My body still on Earth but my consciousness in Hell, presented as the spirit of the King of the Damned. I am visible to only those I wish to be visible too, but I cannot speak and only haunt the depths of Hell rather than ruling.

Now whose mind shall I pick at? It must be someone who has experienced a lot and that has seen a lot of different places. But at the same time was heavily associated here in Los Angeles. I believe my best bet would have to be a celebrity. With all the sex, drugs, and fast life style it should be easy to find someone from California. Ah yes the famous Hollywood actor, Nigel Betterton. Born and raised in Los Angeles, got his big break in Los Angeles, and had died of a drug overdose in his beach house in Los Angeles. Lets enter his mind. With in a matter of seconds I experienced his entire life. In Hell a single second feels like an eternity. Once I had left his mind I let his torture continue. See the thing is is that nobody realises they can leave Hell whenever they want, as long as the sin is purged from within them and they feel that they do not deserve the punishment for whatever it was they did that got them here in the first place. It's time for me to go back to my body. I should check how the throne has been before I leave. I pray to Lilith again and I was then immediately presented in front of her. She saw me and assured me everything was fine down there. As I stated before I am unable to communicate back to her but she is able to see me. She then says "Everything will be fine we will see you in six days. Be careful up there."

I returned to my body and was only gone for six minutes. When my consciousness goes to Hell and my body remains here it suspense itself in the air. I fell down from about the third level of the apartment complex and landed straight into a garbage can.


End file.
